Category: Bravissimo

During this weekend long retreat at the beautiful Menla Retreat & Spa, Satya Scainetti, Founder of Satya Jewelry will lead you through the sacred art of mala making and how malas are used in daily practice to help manifest miracles. Creating a personal mala works to open the heart and serves as a talisman for individual empowerment and well-being. Each attendee will leave the retreat with an intention infused, one-of-a-kind mala that they are encouraged to use for a 40-day meditation.

The mala is a traditional garland of 108 prayer beads. Every bead represents a truth, and meditating on them with an affirmation, or mantra, is used to bring peace of mind. The mala can also be seen as a metaphor for life: a small knot between each of the beads represents a challenge between the smoother, more beautiful aspects of life.

Surrounded by thousands of acres of Catskills forest preserve, Menla is nestled in a magical hidden mountain valley in Phoenicia New York. Throughout the year, guests can enjoy deep serenity and abundant wildlife, explore many different levels of hikes, and take advantage of unique classes and services offering integrative healing -merging Tibetan, Ayurvedic and other holistic traditions. Menla features a conference center, yoga studio, sweat lodge, meditation sanctuary, and the wonderful new Tibetan Dewa Spa & Healing Center specializing in rare and ancient Tibetan therapies.

Menla is affliated with the cultural embassy for Tibet, the Tibet House in NYC, and operated by Robert AF Thurman, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University as well as co-founder and President of Tibet House. In 2006 The Dalai Lama blessed the land and the stated mission at Menla: to be a place for health, healing and spiritual evolution, based on the wisdom of Tibetan medicine.

Satya Scainetti is the founder and designer of Satya Jewelry. A philanthropist, yoga teacher and Reiki healer, Satya lives a lifestyle dedicated to giving back to the world community. The name Satya, meaning “truth” in Sanskrit, inspires each wearer to their individual truth. With a global following, she creates beautiful, inspiring and meaningful jewelry that resonates with each customer’s own personal journey. Satya’s background in social work and passion for early childhood education sparked the creation of the Satya Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides children all over the world with hope, change and the opportunity to fulfill their destinies.

Earth Day Network, the organization that leads Earth Day worldwide, announced that Earth Day 2018 will focus on mobilizing the world to end plastic pollution, including creating support for a global effort to eliminate single-use plastics along with global regulation for the disposal of plastics. EDN will educate millions of people about the health and other risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics, including pollution of our oceans, water, and wildlife, and about the growing body of evidence that decomposing plastics are creating serious global problems.

From poisoning and injuring marine life to the ubiquitous presence of plastics in our food to disrupting human hormones and causing major life-threatening diseases, the exponential growth of plastics is threatening our planet’s survival. In response, EDN has built a multi-year End Plastic Pollution Campaign. The goals include ending single-use plastics, promoting alternatives to fossil fuel-based materials, promoting 100 percent recycling of plastics, corporate and government accountability and changing human behavior concerning plastics. As a catalyst for global action the campaign includes four major components:

Leading a grassroots movement to support the adoption of a global framework to regulate plastic pollution

Educating, mobilizing and activating citizens across the globe to demand that governments and corporations control and clean up plastic pollution

Educating people worldwide to take personal responsibility for plastic pollution by choosing to reject, reduce, reuse and recycle plastics

Promoting local government regulatory and other efforts to tackle plastic pollution

Be The Change. Take Action. Get Involved. Give To The Cause. Spread The Word. Choose An Option To End Plastic Pollution On Earth Day & Beyond!Here

For yoga teachers and everyone interested in transformational change, Seane Corn-international yoga teacher extraordinaire and co-founder of Off The Mat Into The World, an organization dedicated to bridging yoga & activism, will be at Kripalu -the premiere yoga & health center in the Berkshires, co-teaching with Kerri Kelly founder of CTZNWELL -a movement to mobilize the well-being community into a powerful force for change. Together they offer a valuable program, instrumental in translating the tools of well-being into practical application & social action in the public sector: Teaching Transformational Yoga; Bridging Personal Practice & Collective Change, May 4-6th, 2018.

The personal is always political. There is never an instance where we are separate from everyone & everything around us. Our lives are interwoven, and so our practice must allow for the interplay between who we are as individuals and who we are as a collective; between personal healing and transformation (inner work) and collective well-being for all (outer work).

Kerri Kelly Founder of CTZNWELL Explores The Privilege of Well-Being at TEDxBend.

This training is designed for leaders on the front lines of transformational work, including yoga teachers, community leaders, organizers & facilitators, who are ready to take their work to the next level. It is an immersive experience demanding radical healing and truth telling, calling each of us to reach our highest human potential as catalysts for real, long-term change. Using a whole-systems approach, Corn & Kelly will cover the following core components:

Teaching: The art of designing a transformational yoga class that bridges the personal & the political

Expanding: How to decentralize the conversation, spread seeds & ignite the movement

If you only have the time & resources for one life-changing yoga training this year, The Artful Living Blog recommends this one. Note*Seane Corn is a Kripalu visiting yogini rockstar thus this program will sell out quickly.

I’ve Been Thinking… Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life by Maria Shriver, 2018.

The Artful Living Blog became an admirer of Maria Shriver over the years through her bestselling books and journalism, recognizing that she was a thoughtful, reflective, honest interpreter of our current world. Also in being a subscriber to The Sunday Paper -a weekly newsletter from her self-described digital home powered by inspiration for people with passion and purpose, where she shares information, reflections, news stories, viewpoints & more. One quickly learns therein that observing the week through Maria’s lens is refreshing, always interesting and optimistic. Inspiring read encouraging hope that we can all be activists in some small way and make a positive difference by becoming “architects of change.”

As a prominent woman juggling many roles, Maria Shriver knows just how surprising, unpredictable, and stressful everyday life can be. In her moving and powerful new book: I’ve Been Thinking, she shares inspiring quotes, prayers & wise reflections designed to get readers thinking, feeling, and laughing, to guide them in their journey to what she calls The Open Field -a place of acceptance, purpose, and passion, a place of joy. I’ve Been Thinking is ideal for anyone at any point on the continuum of life. Whether you feel like you’ve got it all together or like it’s all falling apart, whether you’re taking stock of your life or simply looking to recharge, this is a book you can turn to again and again. The perfect daily companion or weekend pick-me-up, and an exceptional gift for the graduate, or someone looking to move forward in life with hope and grace.

A decade ago, after suffering from life-threatening autoimmune disorders, Hollywood actress Shiva Rose set out to discover a more holistic way to natural health and beauty. Growing her own organic herbs and flowers; mixing creams, lotions, and tonics; and following Ayurvedic practices & creating mindful rituals, she has not only healed her life but has also become a leader, entrepreneur and activist in the world of all-natural beauty & lifestyle.

Whole Beauty is her radiant next step, a practical, inspiring, stunningly beautiful guide to following a whole beauty practice at home. A devotee of ancient beauty practices and yet elegantly modern, Shiva advocates self-care with soothing rituals and luxurious flora-focused recipes that release inner radiance. This beautiful book is like a spa day for the soul and senses. Here is the recipe for Rose’s iconic Rose Hip facial serum, as well as 40 other recipes. She explains Ayurvedic practices, such as dry brushing and oil pulling, and home-cleansing rituals, such as smudging with burning sage; shares a dozen tonics, including Celestial Nog and Summer Lover; and offers an entire chapter on the use of essential oils, both on the body & in the home. With natural beauty solutions showing you how to tap into the full force of feminine energy, Whole Beauty is a complete guide to revitalizing your life.

Honoring The Earth, Celebrating The Body: An evening of story & ritual with Shiva Rose to celebrate the launch of her new book Whole Beauty at the Deepak Homebase, ABC Home NYC, April 5th, 2018. Discover daily rituals & earth-friendly recipes for lifelong beauty & wellness + take part in the creation of a nature altar in honor of Mother Earth. Tickets here

As a leading consciousness center in New York, Deepak Homebase is where audiences engage in experiences to enrich the beauty, wellness, and wisdom of our bodies, minds & planet. Convening global leaders, change-makers, and the most notable artists, authors, designers & performers to share their genius, galvanizing efforts to create a sustainable world.

The Gardener, American debut on March 28th 2018, A documentary by Sébastien Chabot about renowned plantsman and Garden Conservancy founder Frank Cabot (1925-2011) and his creation of Les Quatre Vents, his magnificent 20-acre garden in Québec. Through his own words and interviews with his family & gardening experts, the film presents Cabot’s extraordinary and inspiring vision that gave birth to one of the greatest gardens in the world.

Trailer For The Film The Gardener

The Gardener is a film that reflects upon the meaning of gardening and its impact on our lives. Shortly before his passing at the age of 86, the influential gardener and self-taught horticulturalist, revisited the creation of his private garden located in Charlevoix, on the top of Mount Murray. This English-style garden, created over three generations and maintained by himself for more than 50 years on the family estate on the St. Lawrence River, is an enchanted place of beauty and surprise, recognized throughout the world as one of the masterpieces of modern horticulture. Here Cabot’s memories and reflections, as well as those of his family and specialists, help take a look at his artistic approach and personal philosophy.

The film is being distributed in public theaters across the United States by Gravitas Ventures. Check your local listings for showings. Following the debut in March, the Garden Conservancy will be offering a private members-only film screening April 5th 2018 at the New York School of Interior Design. Become a Garden Conservancy Memberhere.

The Garden Conservancy, in partnership with garden owners, gardeners, communities, horticulturists, garden designers & historians, works to preserve outstanding gardens across America. Helping new & emerging public gardens become community-based public resources by drawing upon the expertise from a network of experts in all aspects of garden design, management & restoration. They also contribute to the welfare of existing public gardens, helping them manage both natural & manmade challenges to their survival. Many of the gardens they work with are National Historic Landmarks or on the National Register of Historic Places.

The theme of this year’s Women’s History Month, an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history & contemporary society which takes place in March, revives Senator Elizabeth Warren‘s phrase that became a feminist battle cry last year: Nevertheless, She Persisted. Referring to an incident with Senate Mitch McConnell who later said “Senator Warren was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless she persisted.” Feminists immediately adopted the phrase in hashtags and memes to refer to strong women who refuse to be silenced by patriarchy.

“National Women’s History Month is about recognizing the courage and contributions of women everywhere who are breaking down barriers, raising their voices, and fighting for what they believe in,” Warren said in a statement to TIME. “Millions of women have taken up ‘Nevertheless She Persisted’ as their rallying cry because they know that together, we can make change. We know because we are doing it.” This year’s theme serves as a reminder that lasting change often requires decades of determination.

Mantra: Sounds Into Silence, A New Documentary Exploring The Music & Social Phenomenon of Chanting & Healing.

Rockstars of kirtan Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten, Snatam Kaur, JaiUttal & MC YOGI and other beloved kirtan artists appear in the documentary “Mantra: Sounds Into Silence,” making its world premiere at the Rubin Museum of ArtNYC, with screenings March 16th-25th, 2018. This film delves into both awareness through music and communal chant as a social phenomenon. Sharing stories of people reconnecting with their true selves through shared experience.

The Rubin Museum of Art is an arts & cultural hub in New York City’s vibrant Chelsea neighborhood that inspires visitors to make powerful connections between contemporary life and the art, cultures, and ideas of the Himalayas & neighboring regions including India. The Rubin provides immersive & engaging experiences that encourages personal discoveries to spark new ways of seeing the world. With an emphasis on cross-cultural connections, the art therein traverses Asia’s diverse cultures, regions, and narratives. Five gallery floors provide room for looking & learning, while innovative programming, concerts, workshops & conversations inspire dialogue that fosters personal connections with the concepts behind the art on view.